Philosophers Throughout The Ages

[bohemiandonut]

True, but imagine a world that you had complete control of... That's why I try to lucid dream, for fun!

I've never gotten to that point though. All my lucid dreams are generally right on the edge of normal consciousness (of waking up.)

Speaking of that, the whole Terry Schiavo case is rather pertinent to this whole discussion, don't you think? One argument on the side of allowing her to die is that she has no consciousness, because her frontal lobes do not function. But this is an argument based on assumption. Though I'm for letting her pass away (who would want to be kept alive in that condition?) that particular argument gets on my nerves.

There is simply no way to locate consciousness. If consciousness was located in the frontal lobes, that would imply that we, at some point during the evolution of that particular brain region, suddenly became conscious. I find this hard to believe.

However, the whole argument is irrelevant anyway. There is no possible way to know what kind of consciousness Terri is experiencing right now, and some (including myself) would argue that that consciousness might even go beyond her physical death. All we know is that for 10 years, the courts have been hearing every argument possible, and consistently siding with her husband. Do the protestors think they've caught something that all the courts have somehow overlooked?

[Illusional]

actually there was this one incident i had. i was dreaming and in the dream my character went to sleep and had another dream. that was really weird.

a long time ago, i also was able to control my dream. well sorta. i knew i was dreaming so i was thinking to myself, i should try something out. being that i was only half assed in control, i just decided to fly. of all the things possible and i decide to fly.

raverboy

[bohemiandonut]

a long time ago, i also was able to control my dream. well sorta. i knew i was dreaming so i was thinking to myself, i should try something out. being that i was only half assed in control, i just decided to fly. of all the things possible and i decide to fly.
raverboy

I would decide to fly too.

[Chlorine]

Donut------“Do the protestors think they've caught something that all the courts have somehow overlooked?”

I have been thinking about the Terry case, as to how conscious she really is, in light of what we’ve discussed over the past two weeks. Since I believe we all have a soul, until Terry dies, her soul still remains in her body. If I were to link the soul to some form of consciousness, than based on that deduction, ‘yes’ Terry would still be conscious. I am not familiar as to how doctors measure brain activity; but since the plug has already been pulled, I guess it is best to let her go. The only nagging feeling I have is, what if brain damage were something similar to ‘sleep paralysis’? No brain activity registered on medical machines, and yet the person herself, is vaguely conscious of her current state, but does not possess the ability to communicate it. That would be tragic. I liken it to being buried alive.
As for the protestors, they're probably just pro-life.

Illusional----Alot of people dream of flying. Sometimes I dream I am falling but I never seem to hit the ground.

[nomas]

I've been aware of dreaming in a couple of occasions. Once I said..cool, I can conjure up whatever I want..but it didn't happen..then I tried flying, but I couldn't really get off the ground.

A couple of times I've fallen from high altitudes too and on the way down I'm thinking "Oh, Shit!"..but I always land on my feet and unhurt...just the shock. Everytime I've dreamed about being in a fight I always kick ass too..

What does all this mean, Donut? Do you know?

[Kiechi]

I've been aware of dreaming in a couple of occasions. Once I said..cool, I can conjure up whatever I want..but it didn't happen..then I tried flying, but I couldn't really get off the ground.

A couple of times I've fallen from high altitudes too and on the way down I'm thinking "Oh, Shit!"..but I always land on my feet and unhurt...just the shock. Everytime I've dreamed about being in a fight I always kick ass too..

What does all this mean, Donut? Do you know?

Being that the topic at hand has changed from Philiosophy to Psychology, I think I'll be able to shed some light on the situation.

"Dreams, are invariably the product of conflict...(they help sleep) releasing tensions that come from unattainable wishes."

From the psychoanalytic approach, Freud believed that dreams are the royal road to a knowledge of the activities of the unconscious. Meaning dreams brought to our preconscious are aspects of our unconscious. Like Freud said, most dreams are "wish fulfilment" - we dream about those things we want in reality.

[bohemiandonut]

That's gnarly that you fall very far and yet land on your feet with a shock, still dreaming. I always wake up...

I'm not so sure about the "wish fulfillment" theory. If it were true, wouldn't one only dream about sex, food, and fun? I think dreams are the product of both internal and external stimuli, and your brain tries to rationalize these stimuli by creating a story. I think we have evolved so that some of our memory functions are limited during sleep, so as not to drift off every night to a chaotic, confusing mental hell.

What I mean by internal and external stimuli is internal: your memories and concepts, mostly what you have been thinking about before sleep, and external: actual things that are happening to you physically, that your brain interprets while you are asleep. Have you ever woken up from a dream where you were hearing a song, only to find that same song being played on the radio? I have. Likewise, something like having to urinate would create anxiety as your brain tries to understand what the body is feeling. Or your foot asleep might create that sensation of immobility... you know the one.

The only nagging feeling I have is, what if brain damage were something similar to ‘sleep paralysis’? No brain activity registered on medical machines, and yet the person herself, is vaguely conscious of her current state, but does not possess the ability to communicate it. That would be tragic.

True, that would be tragic, but doctors have determined beyond a doubt that this is not the case. If there is any consciousness left in her at all (I tend to think there is), it is disconnected from her cortical region (response to pain), which has been replaced by fluid (water on the brain.)

For a complete understanding of the case, without all the hysteria and name-calling, check out this article: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Schiavo[/url]

Edit: Reed College has placed me on their wating list. This pisses me off. Those f*cking hippies don't even deserve me. Arrgh...